NOTE: I am writing this post during the Alberta Public Education Teacher Strike. I will not be doing a post regarding the importance of this current situation, but I am noting it so it’s a reminder of why I was able to find time to get this done from my to-do list.
Anyway. Onto my Lost Soul 50 km recap….
This would be my final big race of the year. The year started with my focus on London Marathon, and during that training I did a great local 10km race (Moonlight Run). I completed the London Marathon, earning my 5th Abbott World Marathon Major, then onto a solid half marathon a few weeks later. Trail season hit and my body felt it. It needed recovery. But I kept moving on and eventually got into a good swing of training this summer and kept building, feeling strong.
Could this be the year I not only beat my time from 2019 (6 hr 48 min) but could I get close to a sub 6 hour Lost Soul? Before the new year, I had written time goals for all my races. For every goal race so far, I had achieved my written goal. My goal for Lost Soul 50km was a 6:0x.xx. A dream goal was a sub 6 hour.
Overall my summer training went really well without mistep. I had one big stupid fall in late July and that sidelined me for about a and a half. But after that, I had a really great 4 hour run and felt as ready as I could be. But then, after a cool summer with an unseasonable amount of rain for Lethbridge….we got the heat.
I became worried. Heat is troublesome for me. I get cranky AF. I hate it. And I didn’t have a heat training built from a summer of burning, so I got nervous. If it was hot or smokey on race day, my goal times would have to take a backseat and my focus would be on a finish.
As race day neared closer, I started making my game plan. I knew it’d be tough for my husband to be my crew person, as I had some detailed plans for aid station stuff. Dan would have to be also taking care of Andy, and if they were late to an aid station and I was stressed, it could be a disaster. I offered the idea of being “my crew” to my returning Cross Country athletes at my school. All 6 boys took it on, and honestly…the day wouldn’t have gone as well if they hadn’t been my F1 Pit Crew. Sure, they had a huge cheat sheet that I went through with them the night before and put all the stuff together (I think I made it pretty hard to screw up…you just had to follow directions, haha). I know they were a bit nervous about the idea of actually screwing up, so I think that pressured them a bit to be on the ball with everything…they knocked it out of the park!
Race day came, September 6th. The weather had cooled that week and I knew it wouldn’t be terrible. The morning would be great but after the first two hours, it would start to warm. After going back and forth about what I would do to stay cool, we decided I would in fact use an ice-pack system in the bladder of my pack starting on Leg 3 (There are 5 legs total in the race). I borrowed a second Salomon hydration vest from my coach/friend so that way the F1 Crew could get it prepped to swap with me after Leg 2, with ice ready. I would also take ‘my stupid hat’ at that time, with water and ice in it. I HATE HATS. But I wore this Ciele bucket hat for the remainder of the race and it honestly probably saved me.
Back to the start of the race…I was a tad nervous in Leg 1 because I KNEW I was pushing it. I did Leg 1 is great time, under an hour, at 54 minutes… and I was admittingly a little worried if I went out too crazy. Leg 2 I kept holding on my pace pretty well and fell into a good groove. I did start to get hungry so getting to the aid station at Softball Valley was a welcomed arrival. I arrived to Softball Valley approximately 1 hour and 49 minutes into the race. I did my vest switch with my crew, had some more fuel and headed out.
Courtesy of Ralph Arnold Photography
I knew going onto Leg 3 that if I was to start to fall apart, it’d happen after Gun Range and Ryan’s Hill. I would feel it in my body, that I pushed to hard. I kept moving and going and felt strong. A note for this whole race is that I was pretty much on my own the entire time. No one with me to pace, no one right in front of me or right behind. I had to completely count on myself. I made it into Pavan almost exactly 3 hours into the race. So, I had 3 hours left to hit my goal of sub 6 hours. But it was onto the dreaded North Loop, which is 16km, pretty desolate and a big mind f&$K.
I went on out and felt solid, very grateful for my stupid hat and ice in it. A weird thing happened, though, when I got to the first major coulee climb in the private land–my inner thighs started spasming. SHIT, I am going to fall apart out here on this private land that has nuclear sign warnings placed randomly. I am going to have to have someone evac me out.
Spoiler alert-I did not need an evac.
I kept moving, and I think my mind telling me to make it easy to figure out how fast I needed to go on the last leg….I made it back to Pavan in 2 hours. I was roughly 5 hours into this 50km foot race, with only about 7 km left to go (It is a 50 km race, but it measures approximately 51km). A friend came up as F1 Crew helped me and told me I was 3rd female, but did not know where 4th was in relation to me so I NEEDED TO GET GOING. I got going.
Every uphill I faced in the short final leg hurt my inner thighs, always spasming. But I had my eye on the finish. I kept going, knowing I was so close to home. And I could hit my goal. And surpass it.
As I made the final turns back into Softball Valley, the sweet sounds of Macklemore’s “Downtown” played in my airpods, I started crying, and I came into the finish line surrounded by people cheering me in. I not only got my handwritten goal of a 6:0X.xx, not only did I break 6 hours…I finished in a 5:47.33. Never in a million years did I think I had the ability to place 3rd place female overall in this damn race. This was the most amazing feeling and I could not be happier to be surrounded by Dan, Andy, my coach, my friends, my coworkers, my cross country athletes, and all other spectators. It was a fairy tale ending.
We stayed around to cheer other runners coming in, hang out with the people who cheered me in. I went home and showered and then headed back to Softball Valley to cheer on more finishers and just soak in the whole day. The next day was the banquet where we had an excellent breakfast, speakers and awards. It was everything I could have asked for in this weekend and I will always cherish Lost Soul 50km 2025.
Je Me Souviens-To Infinity & Beyond! 